June 18 (Reuters) - Slovakia's parliament backed the government on Thursday in a confidence vote triggered by a breach of the country's legal debt limits, but the move sharpened debate over fiscal policy.
Prime Minister Robert Fico's three-party coalition won support with 78 votes in the 150-seat chamber.
The euro zone country has a constitutional law on budget responsibility that mandates escalating measures as debt rises, from freezing ministers' salaries and spending to, ultimately, a confidence vote.
The top debt threshold, requiring the confidence vote, has steadily fallen from 60% of gross domestic product to 52% for 2025, the latest year with available data.
But exemptions for newly formed or caretaker governments have allowed successive administrations to avoid the strictest measures as debt climbed.
COURT RULING FORCES CONFIDENCE VOTE
The last exemption expired in late 2025, but the government delayed the vote until a Constitutional Court ruling on Wednesday ordered it to act without delay.
Fico called the vote immediately, saying it was a formality.
Slovakia's debt stood at 57.9% of GDP in 2024 and rose to 61.4% in 2025, according to official data. The opposition said the higher level should have triggered a vote late last year.
This year's budget targets a deficit of 4.3% of GDP, easing only slightly to 4.2% in 2027, while debt is seen rising to 65.1% of GDP next year.
The country's fiscal watchdog said on Thursday the vote should not have been treated as a formality.
"Before the confidence vote, fundamental questions should be heard: Do we know when and how the growth in debt should stop? Are proposed measures sufficient to lower debt?" it said in a statement before the vote.
The Finance Ministry did not respond to a request for comment.
(Reporting by Jan Lopatka and Jason Hovet in Prague. Editing by Mark Potter)
